The Rock vs Roman Reigns: Past its Prime!

I usually like and agree with Mr. Tito and his takes as we usually see eye to eye on a lot of things. But when it comes to Rock vs. Roma to borrow a quote from Jim Cornette “We couldn’t be more different if one of us was an African American lesbian nun and the other was a Nazi skinhead Martian from Outerspace.”

That also goes for those who have HATED Hulk Hogan and his power and now are gleefully talking about Rock vs. Roman. As they call it, it is the dream match that we all want, and we deserve as fans.

Well, if Mr. Tito wants to wag his finger at me, allow me to channel my inner Stone Cold and give you, and this match, a finger back. This match and the build-up so far sucks worse than a Hoover vacuum and it could get much worse. But let me start with all the reasons I hate this match.

Dream Matches SUCK.

As much as Mr. Tito and Tony Khan are proponents of them (BTW can somebody make sure Tony did not highjack Mr. Tito’s account), the last few dream matches truly bomb because they happened with guys past their prime. Do not believe me, let us look at the last few.

Goldberg vs. Undertaker: The battle between the two biggest and baddest men from WCW and WWE in Saudi Arabia. The match was slow, plodding and Goldberg got concussed and nearly killed the Undertaker. That match sucked and swallowed big time.

Brothers of Destruction vs. DX: The return of Shawn Michaels and everyone was happy as a clam to see him one more time. That match was so bad that all four men got injured and it turned from a dream to a house of horrors.

Cena vs. The Rock 2: That match felt sluggish, and Dwayne got injured in that match as age was starting to creep up on him. MR. Tito also loved the fact I bet that CM Punk vs. The Undertaker stole the show and made it look like chicken crap compared to it.

The last “Dream Match” that was good was Austin vs. Owens, but it did not include a title and Owens sold and bumped like hell for Austin. Plus, it was in Texas and the crowd would have cheered if Austin came out and gave a stunner to a baby seal.

The fact is we talk about “Dream Matches” because that is what they are basically: Dreams. In their prime it would be awesome if The Rock took on Roman Reigns but until time travel happens, it is poppycock.

The fact that the Rock, at age 51, is going to get back in the ring after a decade from his last real match and expects to go is asking for trouble. It is fantasy booking for people who just want big money and mainstream publicity which leads to the next point.

Rock vs. Roman takes the focus away from Vince.

Before Vince got in deep crap with the NDA thing, everyone was looking forward to Punk-Rollins, Reigns-Cody 2, Gunther vs Brock and more great matches.

Now… Vince is looking at possible federal charges for sex trafficking, Brock Lesnar is getting the Chris Benoit treatment and Punk tore his triceps.

You can hear Mr. Tito and TKO Board drop F-Bombs at the bad luck and bad publicity following all of this. If you thought Jericho and his NDA scandal was bad, this is the Titanic of bad publicity. (I know it is a bad pun but who cares, sue me!)

Just like most companies did with any bad publicity, TKO is trying to take control of the narrative. Forget about Vince and his scandals… ITS ROCK VS. ROMAN. HEAD OF THE TABLE!!

And you people who are backing this are following along like the lemmings they expect you to behave like.

Instead of talking all week about the Vince-Sex Trafficking scandal, ESPN and CBS are going to talk about The Rock returning. It is PR 101 and that is how companies get you away from the narrative.

If that means that Cody comes across looking like a dumbass, hey it’s the price of good PR. Which leads me to the next point.

Cody looked like a shmuck!

If the roles were reversed and this was Rock winning the Royal Rumble and a returning Hulk Hogan coming back and wrestling Stone Cold at WrestleMania back in the day, no way would that scenario be played out.

The babyface looks like a total punk and walks away from his dream with his tail between his legs. How does this make any sense for Cody to pass up on “finishing the story” to give it over to The Rock? No offense Mr. Tito but that is AEW Level of bull crap writing and you know it.

Do not blame Paul Levesque because As Mike Johnson reported for PW Insider, this move was made by Nick Khan and Ari Emmanuel. Along with The Rock, they are TKO Board members who outrank Levesque and are driving this bus.

This move has the risk of undermining everything Cody and the company have done. Why should fans care about his story when WWE keeps jerking them around?

This is what bad television shows do that get canceled; they keep throwing red herrings in there.

For critics who said that Cody was never a star, and they don’t know how he will do as a champion, I call hogwash. You are the same idiots then that agreed with Eric Bischoff when he fired Steve Austin and suggested he was a mid-carder.

Cody in AEW was a whole different beast as he was trying to build a company while keeping his idiot boss and bitchy VP’s from burning the thing down. It is no surprise that ever since Cody left AEW, the whole thing fell apart and is now approaching UWF territory.

But now not only does WWE want us to believe the WHC is impressive but ignore the fact… REIGNS CRAPPED ON THAT EARLIER IN THE SEGMENT.

But instead of looking at Cody beating Reigns and achieving Mt. Rushmore… he will climb Notting Hill instead and look like a punk. Which leads me to my final reason I hate this and you people.

The Rock is in this for what is best for TKO’s business… and HIS!

Spare me the “Rock told Pat McAfee he wants to give back to WWE” spiel as that is phonier than “Say your prayers, take your Vitamins and believe in Hulkamania.” bull crap. If Rock wanted to help WWE, he would have feuded with other guys. Guys like Jey Uso, Bron Breakker, Gunther and Damian Priest who could use that magic.

“But Chris… they are beneath him, and the Rock shouldn’t work with guys like that.”

I say to those people then who the F is he truly helping in the WWE outside of his bank account and the board members? The rest of the roster is not going to be helped as he will not be giving anyone a rub or magic from working with him. Roman Reigns might be helped but that is a part timer and family member

And the worst-case scenario is… he could beat Reigns for the title, and we get Roman vs. Rock 2. The Saudis would love that!

If you do not think that is possible then you haven’t paid attention to Rock’s antics the last few years. As he showed when he was in the DCEU, he is going to do what he wants and will do anything to get that.

When he was signed to play Black Adam, the understanding was he was going to be in Shazam 2 as the main villain. However, he negotiated first for his own movie instead of doing the Shazam sequel.

And as many outlets like Variety and Comic Blend reported, Rock nixed plans to face Shazam. Instead, he started angling to take on Superman next and powerplay to head up the DCEU altogether.

That is some Hulk Hogan level big timing, and it is from the guy who is now a TKO Board member.

Already he has brought ex-WWE writer Brian Gerwitz back into the creative fold. Gerwitz, it has been reported will be writing for the Rock’s program and focusing on the lead up to WrestleMania.

So not only is he big timing Cody by taking his spot, but he is also having Paul and company get shuffled off to the side for his friend. If the Young Bucks or Hulk Hogan or Chris Jericho pulled this… hell there would be riots going on.

The bottom line is the WWE no longer needs Rock; what they need is to start pushing younger talent. They screwed that up with Austin Theory and are in danger of doing it with Dominik Mysterio. They do not have any under 35-year-old talent in the main event scene right now.

What is worse is that too much of the talent is in holding patterns due to Roman Reigns. Damian Priest has been made to look like a chump due to the Reigns/Rollins stranglehold. Gunther has been reduced to feuding with the Miz and being a mid-level champion.

Don’t get me started with the tag team titles which are barely defended and no real feud in sight.

Cody needs to finish the story so we can move on and let other people start getting new feuds and looks. I get the “Rock vs. Roman” was a dream job but if that was the case then just bring back all the old stars.

Fire half the roster and sign Ric Flair, Undertaker, Stone Cold, Mick Foley and Goldberg. We can do a senior’s tour where they go over younger talent, and we get the pops of the 90’s.

Rock vs. Stone Cold for WrestleMania 41. Tagline could be Generation Old X. It will sell big bucks.

For those of you who care about pro wrestling it’s time to stop living in fantasy land and get back to reality. That means even you Mr. Tito for wanting this train wreck to happen because of it being a “Dream Match.”

The last few of those turned into nightmares and right now… reality is better than fantasy

You can check out more interviews with athletes and sports reporters on www.lastcallpodcast.com or follow me on Twitter.com/LastCallwChrisC